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Originally Posted April 2023 Updated April 2026

So far I have finished two books this month. The first Blind Justice was my first visit to the world of Detective Sargent Aector McAvoy from David Mark. While the second Storm Watch was my 22nd visit to the world of C.J.Box‘s Joe Pickett.

I first met Joe Pickett and his family in 2003, when I read Savage Run the second book in the series. I soon read the Open Season book one in the series and I’ve only missed one book in the series! You can check out more ere

Storm Watch – The Story

Storm Watch begins with Joe performing his typical Game Warden duties. Joe receives a call regarding an elk cow that has been hit by a car and Joe responses and track the elk far into the mountains. After finding the elk Joe finds a mysterious building, when he explores it further he finds it is filled with a ton of computers. Oh, there is also a dead body stuck halfway in a window! Soon Joe is called by the Governor and told not to investigate the murder.

Meanwhile, Joe’s friend Nate Romanowski is approached by an ex-black ops operator  to join an anti-government group that’s planning some big action.

So can Joe and Nate stay out of trouble? Are the murder and Nate’s request the join the Sovereign Nation group connected?

My Thoughts

I loved this well crafted well paced book. I have enjoyed Barclay’s books for a while now and have read all four of the Zack Walker books and Too Close to Home also highly recommended) another standalone.

In No Time for Goodbye the characters are believable and story line keeps moving and the suspense building toward the surprising conclusion!

In this book, I really enjoyed the character of Terry Archer, who narrates  the story. His character was a little like Zack Walker, someone, who at times is in a little over their head!

Bottom Line

I was somewhat disappointed with Shadows Reel (book 22) in the series. I just didn’t think it was one of Box’s best. However, I do think he redeemed himself with this one! The only thing that didn’t happen was Joe’s truck finished  the book unscathed!Anyway the book was great and rates at least a 4.5 if not a 5! Go find it and enjoy!

Links

iAuthor’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

• William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
• Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
• Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

The post Storm Watch – C.J. Box appeared first on .

Three- Inch Teeth  is the 24th book in the Joe Pickett series from C.J.Box, It is also the 23rd book I have read in the series. The only book in the series I haven’t read is Cold Wind. (Note to self read Cold Wind this year!). As a long-time fan of the series, while Three- Inch Teeth is one of his best books, it is for me one of the most disturbing. 

About Three-Inch Teeth

The story begins when a rouge grizzly bear attacks and kills a fly fisherman in Joe Pickett’s territory. Everyone is surprised by the grizzly;s presence because they aren’t supposed to be in the area. The other surprise is the victim could have been Joe’s future son-in-law! 

Meanwhile, former rodeo star and Saddlestring resident Dallas Cates is released from prison. Joe helped put Cates in prison  Joe was involved in the deaths of several members of Cates’ family. These deaths happened after Cates had attacked Joe’s adopted daughter April and left her for dead. (See books Endangered and Vicious Circle). Anyway, Dallas is out for revenge and his hit list includes: the judge, the county prosecutor, Joe and his wife Marybeth and Nate and Live Romanoski.

Enlisting in some allies to help him extract his revenge, Dallas devises a way to use the bear attacks as a cover for his murderous plan.One of his allies is Alex Soledad, who appears in Storm Watch.

The Bottom Line (Spoiler Alert)

Three-Inch Teeth is a little grisly (no pun intended). However, I think it’s one of Box’s best books. The characters, as always, are well-developed and the action and suspense is great throughout the book. It was disturbing for me because of the deaths of some of the characters in this book and past books.

While I think Three-Inch Teeth could be read as a standalone, it would be that much better if the books I mentioned earlier were read first!

The ending of Three-Inch Teeth was upsetting. It set the stage for future books in the series. And I can’t wait! So, Check it Out!

Links

• Author’s Website
• Facebook
• Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series
• Amazon

About C.J. Box

The post Three-Inch Teeth – C.J.Box (Joe Pickett #24) A Great Addition to the Series! appeared first on .

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I have been reading c.J. Box‘s  Joe Pickett books for a long time and Dark Sky the 21st book in the series is in my opinion one of his best!

The Story

In Dark Sky  Joe must lead an elk hunting trip for a famous tech mogul. Steve Price, better known as Steve-2, the founder of Aloft and the social media platform  ConFab. Steve-2 wants to track, kill and dress an elk. Needless to say things don’t go well almost from the beginning. As the hunting party begins the hunting party are being watched by the Thomas  family. Seems the father Earl has a score to settle with Steve-2 and he’s brought along his to sons Kirby and Brad to help him settle it!

Meanwhile Nate Romanowski and Sheridan Pickett Joe’s daughter who is also Nate’s falconry apprentice have their own problems. Seems someone is stealing from their falconry nests. And Nate is none to happy with that situation!

Thoughts about the Joe Pickett Series

I have enjoyed this series since I read my first Joe Pickett book back in 2004. I started with Savage Run the second book in the series and I quickly went back and read book one Open Season! And I’ve read every book with the exception of Cold Wind (Book # 11). I started reading Cold Wind when it came out. However, I ended up returning Cold Wind to the library unread. The most likely reason was being distracted by another book.

The one aspect of the series that has made it most enjoyable is that Joe and his family along with Nate Romanowski have aged! Joe is now 51 and he’s not moving real well. And while age may be a part of his problem the main reason he has a limp is he was shot a while back. And now Joe is going to use all his wiles to keep both himself and his clients safe.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is Dark Sky is a fast-paced exciting novel with well developed characters. And while it may be more enjoyable if you know the characters, I think Box provides enough info for the reader to recognize and like Joe Pickett’s character. Box does a good job of developing the other characters i.e. Steve-2 and Earl Thomas and his sons are well.

So go find it read it and then you only have 20 more books featuring Joe and his family to enjoy! As for me, I need to go back and read Cold Wind!

Links

iAuthor’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

• William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
• Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
• Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

The post Dark Sky -C.J. Box (Joe Pickett #21) appeared first on .

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Earlier in the week, I finished Vicious Circle the latest book In the Joe Pickett series from C.J.Box. It’s the seventeenth book chronicling the adventures of Joe and his family. Like all of the books in the series. It’s a great read.

If you are unfamiliar with the series, Joe Pickett is a game warden living in Saddlestring Wyoming. Joe has a way of being in the wrong place at the wrong time which makes for many exciting adventures and the loss of a lot of government trucks.

Typically, somewhere along the way Joe is assisted by his friend the shadowy Nate Romanowski. Nate operates on the edges of the law and serves to offset Joe’ Dudley Do-Rightish nature.

Joe is also a family man with a wonderful wife, Marybeth and three daughters. Natural daughters Sheridan and Lucy and adopted daughter April, He even has the mother in law from hell – Missy(surname whichever man she is married to now) Missy believes that her daughter unlike herself has married down.

The Beginnings of the Vicious Circle

Two books ago in Endangered Joe’s adopted daughter April ran away with Rodeo Champion Dallas Cates. The Cates family is bad news. If something bad happens in the county the first people the police look for are members of the Cates family

So when Joe’s daughter April ran away with Dallas Joe was rightly upset. And when Dallas she is found beaten on by the side of the road and she ends up in the hospital. Dallas becomes the focus of Joe’s wrath. Needless to say things didn’t end well, with Dallas ending up in jail!

Now Dallas has been released from prison and he is back in Saddlestring. And He’s coming for Joe and his family!

Bottom Line

lVicious Circle like most of its predecessors, is  a four star book for me. One of the best aspects of the Joe Pickett series has been the development of the characters over the  course of the series. Joe has been Joe with a few changes through the years.

But all three of his girls have grown from little girls to young women. In addition, wife Marybeth has gone from library volunteer to the library’s head administrator.

Other characters have also changed. Nate Romanowski has gone from an ex-Seal on the run from the law to a free citizen, who may still be willing to operate outside the law. While Joe’s mother in law is now on her sixth?? husband as she continues to marry up and up. So if your willing start at the beginning and enjoy the ride.

At a minimum readmEndangered first. Now you still may be able to read and enjoy Vicious Circle without reading Endangered, but I still think it’s better if you know what happened in the first half of the vicious circle!!

Links

iAuthor’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

• William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
• Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
• Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

The post Vicious Circle – Joe Pickett vs. the Cates Family Part 2 – C.J.Box (Joe Pickett # 17) appeared first on .

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Soon after finishing The Hunting Wind by Steve Hamilton, I received notice that C J Box’s new novel Off the Grid was available for pick-up at the library. So I hurried over to the library and then I came home and quickly devoured the book!

Yes, Off the Grid, book 16 in the Joe Pickett series is a good one! I finished Endangered book 15 in the series last April and it took me a little while to remember what happened in that one but Box as always kept revealing little bits of that storyline, which jogged my memory and brought that story back to me.

But while it is definitely better if you know the back story and the relationship between Nate Romanowski and Joe and his family it is not essential to the enjoyment of this book.

The Story

In this installment two Federal Agents approach Nate, who has been living off the grid since escaping from the hospital at the end of Endangered (Book 15 Joe Pickett), and present a proposal to him.

The agents want Nate’s help in destroying a suspected terrorist cell in Wyoming’s Red Desert. If the operation is a success the agents will make Nate’s criminal record disappear!!

So Nate soon finds himself alone in the Red Desert facing the biggest challenge of his life a group of “patriots” led by a charismatic falconer who have created a weapon that could wreak havoc, if it falls in the wrong hands, and those wrong hands may be within the group!

Meanwhile, Joe has his hands full with a grizzly bear before Wyoming’s governor sends him on a special assignment to find out what they Feds and Nate are up to in his state! So now Joe and Nate are facing down the terror cell and to make matters worse Joe’s oldest daughter and her roommate end up on old sheep ranch that serves as the base for the group.

My Thoughts

The Joe Pickett series has been a favorite of mine for a long time now and the great thing about the series is that the books are just getting better and better and Off the Grid is one of the best!

 I think what sets the Joe Pickett books apart from other books in the genre is the Pickett Family, Over the course of the series, the reader has watched the two Pickett girls Sheridan and Lucy grow up. In addition their adopted daughter April has become a central character in the series. Even Joe’s mother-in-law Missy has been key in several books!! Here’s what Booklist says……

“Is there a crime-fiction family as fully fleshed out as Joe Pickett’s? In singing the praises of Box’s series, we often praise the plotting, pacing, and the down-to-earth hero’s friendship with force-of-nature Nate Romanowski But Pickett’s supporting cast – wife Marybeth and daughters Sheridan. Lucy and April – lends a continuity to this series that sets it apart.”

My answer to that first question is maybe.The O’Connor family from William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series may be tied with them! But Joe’s family still makes this series special!

Bottom Line

Off the Grid for me is one of C.J.Box’s best books. it had a believable, scary plot with lots of page-turning action. I do believe that the final paragraph set the stage for the next book in the series and I for one can’t wait.

So join Joe and his family for this adventure, and while you wait for the next installment, go back and catch-up with the past lives of Joe and Nate and the rest of the clan!

Links

iAuthor’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

About C J Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

• William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
• Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
• Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

The post Off the Grid – C; J  Box  – (Joe Pickett #16) The Stories Get Better and Better. appeared first on .

Stealing an idea for a friend of Goodreads, I am going to start this review with the first paragraph of Endangered the latest Joe Pickett novel from C.J. Box….

When Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett received the call every parent dreads, he was standing knee-high in thick sagebrush, counting the carcasses of sage grouse. He was up to twenty-one

That simple paragraph sets the stage for the whole book and tells the new reader a lot about Joe Pickett. For those who don’t know Joe it lets you know that he lives in Wyoming and he is a game warden, but it also tells you that he is a caring parent Throughout the fifteen plus books in the series, Joe’s wife Mary Beth and children Sheridan, Lucy and April have been there, along with Joe’s mother-in-law Missy.now Templeton and Joe’s right-hand man and the families protector Nate Romanowski..If you do know Joe you know that the presence of those dead sage grouse will not make Joe happy and he won’t quit until h discovers who killed them. Oh and also that their slaughter may be associated with the book’s title Endangered.

The call Joe received told him that a young girl was found badly beaten in a roadside ditch and she looked like his adopted daughter April. April had runaway a while back with a young rodeo star Dallas Cates. Joe never liked Dallas who was a member of a family that Joe has had numerous run ins with as game warden. Dallas of course is the prime suspect and Joe is out to make sure he pays for his crime!!

Meanwhile Joe’s friend Nate Romanowski, an ex-special forces soldier is set to be released from prison and used as bait to flush out the missing Wolfgang Templeton whose murder for hire business Nate had worked for (see Stone Cold) Soon after Nate is released he is ambushed and shot!!

Soon Joe has a lot of problems – will April survive and did Dallas beat her? To solve that puzzle Joe has to go up against the Cates family and that is no easy task. Led by Mama Brenda the family is about as dysfunctional as you can get. Dallas brother Bull lost his livelihood thanks to you know who – yes Joe Pickett.and brother Timber is in prison!!

Joe also has to worry about Nate. Could what happen to Nate and April be related??? And don’t forget those sage grouse. The species were ready to be placed on the endangered species list so a lot of people have a reason to eliminate members of the dwindling species, but who did it??

Joe won’t quit until he finds out and this time finding out just may cost Joe his life!!

Bottom Line: Endangered is a winner!! Several books ago I set aside Cold Wind. I just couldn’t get into it and I thought that I would quit this series. But since then C J Box has come back roaring with four great books and Endangered may be the best of the four! Bookpage says….

“C.J. Box moves from strength to strength with each new installment. I would say that he is at the top of his form, but the top just keeps moving ever upward”

How true. Endangered was a real page-turner for me. The plot kept me in suspense to the last pages, and of course the characters that Pickett has created along the way are a vivid and real as it gets. You know, it’s hard some time to remember that Joe and his family are not real!! Since I have to wait a bit for the next Joe Picket book I think I’ll check out The Highway a stand alone that features Cody Hoyt from previous Joe Pickett books!!.’

Links for Further Explorations of C J Box

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Amazon

The post Endangered by C. J. Box Joe Pickett Series # 15 appeared first on .

Table of Contents

Series Links

Author’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Goodreads:Joe Pickett Series

About C.J.Box

Charles James Box Jr. is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories.

If you like the family and character connections in this series…

You might also enjoy:

• William Kent Krueger — the Cork O’Connor series blends crime with family, history, and a strong sense of place
• Michael Robotham — especially the Joe O’Loughlin books, where personal lives are always part of the story
• Peter May — the Lewis Trilogy, where past, family, and landscape are tightly woven together

The post Stone Cold – C J Box -Nate’s Out for Blood! appeared first on .

Book 25 for the year is Breaking Point, the 13 the in C.J.Box’s great series and it’s another good one. I had checked the book out a couple of weeks ago, but I got immersed in two other books and it sat on the shelf. Finally, a few nights ago I picked it up and I don’t think I set it down until I was done! Box can really tell a story with believable characters and suspense that doesn’t let up!

The Story

This story revolves around Butch and Pam Roberson, whose daughter Hannah is best friends with Joe’s daughter Lucy. Butch and Pam set out to build their dream house only to be sited by the EPA for illegally filling wetands, after a year-long battle and skyrocketing fines, two EPA agents set out from the Denver office to deliver a compliance letter to the Robersons, only to end up dead on the Robeson’s property and Butch is the only suspect!! Soon there is a manhunt of epic proportions for Butch who has taken flight to the rugged woods and mountains that surround his home. Joe’s official job is to lead the group chasing Butch, but Joe’s real job to save Butch’s life so he can find out the true story about what happened!!

My Thoughts

While the action and suspense was non-stop and I devoured the book super quickly, I did think that the portrayal of the EPA both from a compliance standpoint and the manhunt was a little over the top. As a wetlands delineator and having dealt with NJDEP for the last 25 years, I thought the whole EPA issue could have been handled quickly. But then again considering the other case The Sacketts cited in the book and the premise of this book is taken from a true story maybe not!! Either way the book is a fantastic read, so check it out!

Comparing Joe Picket to Cork O’Connor

Joe Pickett is one of my favorite characters. He reminds me a lot of Cork O’Connor in William Kent Krueger’s books. Both have been in law enforcement Joe is a Game Warden and Cork an ex-sheriff. Both are good honest men with families. Joe has a wife Marybeth, two natural daughters and one foster daughter. While Cork has two daughters and a son. Both have trusted friends that help them.  Joe’s friend Nate (who makes a small appearance in this book) /Romanowski is just a tad (said with heavy sarcasm) more violent than Cork’s spiritual guide Henry Meloux! Throughout both series the well-developed characters have evolved, the children have grown up,  the families have dealt with typical family problems, and both men have dealt with the gray areas involved in their pursuit of justice!

While I don’t think that you necessarily need to read the earlier books to enjoy this one, I think that once you read it you’ll want to find out more about Joe and his friends, particularly Nate,  Joe’s mother-in-law Missy and Joe’s problems with his vehicles!!! Enjoy!!

The post Breaking Point – C.J. Box – Joe Pickett # 13 appeared first on .

Nate Romanowski  is the kinda person I would probably not like I real life, but in the world of Joe Pickett, I do! Both are characters in C.J. Box‘s Joe Pickett series and Book  No 19 of 2012 is Force of Nature the 13th book in that series! Nate Romanowski is falconer and an ex-member of the special forces now wanted by the FBI. He lives in the hills near Saddlestring, Wyoming and he has saved Game Warden Joe Pickett’s butt more than once and several incidences has done Joe’s dirty work. After Nate survives an attack on his life by locals and hears from a dying team member that “they’ve deployed”, he meets with Joe.  He says knows who is after him his ex-commander and falconry mentor John Namecek and he’s leaving the area to find out what’s happening  moreover Nate doesn’t expect to win the battle! Now Joe has never known why Nate had to move and live off the grid and Nate can’t tell him now because it will put Joe’s life in even more danger!

So the rest of the book is Nate’s attempt to survive the attack from John Namecek  as his friends and former comrades are being eliminated one by one and even Joe’s family are threatened along the way the terrible secret that Nate has been carrying around is revealed and it all revolves around falcons and the force of nature!!

As I said previously, this is the 13th book in the series and I’ve read all except No 12 Cold Wind. I love all the characters obviously Joe and Nate and then there’s Joe’s family Joe’s wife MaryBeth, her mother Missy, who was the focus of the ast book and Joe’s children daughter’s Sheriden and Lucy and adopted daughter Alice. The kids have always been an important part of the series Sheridan, now a student at the University of Wyoming, has in the past learned falconry from Nate. April’s relationship to the family has evolved over many books! This book can be read and enjoyed without reading any of the other books, but after reading it you probably will want to go back and catch-up with Joe’s adventures!

Box has written several stand alone novels the latest being  Back of Beyond, which was very good! Box has won several awards including:  the Edgar, Anthony. Macavity,Gumshoe and Barry, as well as, the French Prix Calibre .38 and a French Elle magazine literary award.  So check him out!

When I was looking for some pictures today of Saddestring I came across this article Running in the Bighorns perfect. (Note to Edward start running again!)

The post Book 19 of 2012 – C.J Box – Force of Nature appeared first on .

Nowhere to Run is my 16th read of the year and the 10th book in Box’s Joe Pickett series, which keeps getting better and better. This books opens with Joe in his last week of temporary assignment in Baggs Wyoming. The assignment has lasted a year and Joe will be returning to his wife and family soon. But Joe goes into the mountains to investigate some strange happenings, which include camp lootings, tents being slashed, and an elk butchered before the shooters can even collect it! There was also the case of a female Olympic class runner going for a run into the woods and never coming back! On the hunt Joe runs into two twin brothers Caleb and Canish Grimm, who appear to be the men who butchered the Elk! When Joe asks for their fishing license and gives them a citation for hunting without a license their wrath is taken out on himand he barely escapes the mountain alive, but not before he potentially sees the Olympic runner……and the rest of the book revolves around finding out who the Grim Brothers are and was that really the lost runner!

Like all Box’s books the characters are great from Joe to his wife Marybeth, Marybeth’s golddigging mother Missy. the kids Sheridan, Lucy and April to Nate Romanowski and the Brothers Grim! Coupled with the characters is Box’s great descriptive writing about the beauty of the mountains that form the setting of the story!

The pages in this book flew by and overall it was a very enjoyable read! The series can probably be read out of order because the story stands on its’ own but to get the full effect you need to know Joe and his past! So get busy because you have nine books to go to catch up but it will be worth the trip!

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